1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a digital signal crossconnect module. More particularly, this invention pertains to such a module having means for providing increased density.
2. Background of the Invention
Digital signal cross-connect modules are well known in the telecommunications industry. Examples of such may be found in the product literature of ADC Telecommunications entitled "DSX-1 Digital Cross-Connect 3rd Edition" (1990). For example, page 15 of that product literature shows a front cross-connect module having a jack field located at the top of the module. A cross-connect field is located beneath the jack field. The back of the module is provided with wire wrap termination pins for equipment connections. Page 14 of the same literature shows a front cross-connect module with a cross-connect field located on a side of the jack field. Pages 22 and 23 of the product literature show rear cross-connect modules where the cross-connect fields are located on the rear of the modules along with equipment connection fields.
The cross-connect modules shown in the aforementioned ADC product literature show bantam jacks arranged vertically. (By "vertical", it is meant that the IN and OUT ports of the bantam jack are aligned along a vertical axis of alignment.) The jacks are stacked sideby-side in a horizontal row. This configuration provided for a common module having 64 jacks. The number of jacks contained within a module is commonly known as the "density" of the module. For practical matters, the size of a module cannot be increased since modules are designed to be received within existing frames. Resizing a module would require a heavy capital investment in resizing frames.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,087 addresses the prior art problem of restricting the density of a DSX module to 64 circuits. The aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,087 recognized the desire to increase the module density to 84 circuits per module. The desire for 84 circuits is attributable to the fact that many types of telecommunications equipment may require 28 jacks. Accordingly, if three pieces of equipment were being terminated, one full prior art modules would be required and a fraction of one prior art module would be required. With 84 circuits, three pieces of equipment could be terminated on a single module.
The aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,087 attempts to increase density by providing flats or reduced thickness areas on the sides of the bantam jacks in order to permit compression of the horizontal row of bantam jacks.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital signal cross-connect module having enhanced bantam jack density.